VOLVO PENTA 2000? OWNERS READ ON

[tomboy352]

I dont know if this pearl of information has circulated to all owners but I'm glad it reached me last autumn whilst the boat was on the hard. There is a common g/box fault with boxes fitted to the 2000 series engine . Fuller details are available in a PBO artical from October 2002. The splined shaft which connects the g/b to the engine crank is prone to failure, causing a permanent loss of drive. There are no warnings , however, by splitting the box from the engine, you can visually see the wear in process. It is a bit of hassel doing the job but most handy mechanics will manage. I was lucky and caught the wear before it lead to failure. I fitted a modification kit at the cost of about £90 . I will feel much easier during those conditions when the boat is working hard and you hope that nothing fails now. I now know of two boats from our marina who had failures. Perhaps this problem is more common that you think !

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[kunyang]

I was advised about this from the yard mechanic who estimated the mod. would cost £350.00 plus labour. Where did you get this kit from?

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[john_morris_uk]

Does this affect all the 2000 series including the 2040? Is there an age/engine number limit? (ie did Volvo change the design at some point to alleviate the problem?) I remember seeing the article but can't remember the details.

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[BigART]

Yes, it is a pain this one. The 2003s are particularly affected due to the extra power, the 2002 are better but will still fail eventually. Volvo blame everyone (installation, maintenance) except their own shoddy design; they do not accept there is a problem. There are two fixes. If you catch it early enough, you can install a Volvo fix which adds some soft cushions between the engine flywheel and the drive into the gearbox - approx £90 (£70-ish from Keypart, very good company). If it has gone too far you have to get the shaft hexed (splines machined off leaving a hexagon shape feeding into a new hole in the gearbox). A company called DB Marine make a living doing this - good service again I hear. Cost approx £300-400 I think. For more details and endless discussion, see the Westerly owners website. Lots of their boats have these engines and the genereal opinion is that very few of the owners will ever touch a Volvo engine again given a choice. See the following:

http://www.westerly-owners.co.uk/html/body_volvo_gearbox_splines.html

<hr width=100% size=1>I could well be wrong, if so I apologise - please correct me.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by BigART on 23/03/2004 18:57 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[beneteau_305_553]

I believe it only applies to 2002, 2003 series not to the 2020,2030,2040 series

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[TheBoatman]

I'm glad you said that 2020 engines don't count as we have one that done loads of work and has been OK.

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[SteveB_Sigma33]

Are there any symptoms that this is happening?!?! Noise etc?!?!

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[Sybarite]

One for Kim.

When there is a legitimate concern about the reliability of a manufacturer's product I believe it would be interesting to allow the manufacturer in all fairness to have the opportunity to give his point of view.

Do you think it would be feasible (if you don't do it already) to copy the string and send it to Volvo indicating that this has had a wide airing on the forum asking them if they would like to comment?

I also had a concern about the water ingress on Raymarine equipment destroyng the electronics.

John

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[tomboy352]

Re:2001,2002,2003 and symptoms

The PBO artical just mentions the above models and that Volvo ultimately modified the splined shaft with a cushioned splined shaft. These later boxes gave much fewer problems but even the mod has been known to fail. The symptom is that you are going along quite merrily, ( albeit under power) motor-sailing off from a lee shore, or just approaching a hard quay at 3kts hoping to engage astern to slow the boat, when the prop refuses to take up the drive. No noise or vibration. If it was a car, and the wheels were prone to dropping off, the manufacturer would be called to boot. Equally as dangerous if you are unlucky.The mod was brought out in 1991 and effected post 2300059128 numbered boxes.

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[BigART]

Re: One for Kim.

I believe that they have commented already (I think they responded to the PBO article and several unhappy Westerly owners) saying they thought there was nothing wrong with the engines, it was an installation/maintenance problem.

<hr width=100% size=1>I could well be wrong, if so I apologise - please correct me.